Amazon.com Essentials:
Hitchcock's first great romantic thriller is a prime example
of the MacGuffin principle in action. Robert Donat is Richard Hannay,
an affable Canadian tourist in London who becomes embroiled in a
deadly conspiracy when a mysterious spy winds up murdered in Hannay's
rented flat--and both the police and a secret organization wind up hot
on his trail. With only a seemingly meaningless phrase ("the 39
steps"), a small Scottish town circled on a map, and a criminal
mastermind identified by a missing finger as clues, quick-witted
Hannay eludes police and spies alike as he works his way across the
countryside to reveal the mystery and clear his name. At one point
he finds himself making his escape manacled to blonde beauty
Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), whose initial antagonism is smoothed by
Hannay's charm and the sheer rush of her thrilling chase. It's classic
Hitchcock all the way, a seemingly effortless balance of romance and
adventure set against a picturesque landscape populated by eccentrics
and social-register smoothies, none of whom is what he or she appears
to be. Hitchcock would play similar games of innocents plunged into
deadly conspiracies, most delightfully in
North by
Northwest, but in this breezy 1935 classic, Hitch proves that,
as in any quest, the object of the search isn't nearly as satisfying
as the journey. --Sean Axmaker
